Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 SomeOtherDude Aug 15, 2014 11:48:58	Trance. Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have becom e reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.   Does this mean an elf can perform a long rest in only 4 hours Vs. 8 hours for the other races?
#2 mellored Aug 15, 2014 11:57:21
#3 Polaris Aug 15, 2014 12:14:13	mellored wrote:
#4 jaelis Aug 15, 2014 12:24:23	Here is that thread: http://community.wizards.com/forum/rules-questions/threads/4118516
#5 jgerman Aug 15, 2014 13:46:12	Polaris wrote:
#6 Polaris Aug 15, 2014 13:59:27	jgerman wrote:
#7 jgerman Aug 15, 2014 14:04:52	In other words you stand by being wrong. The question was asked, an answer was given. Your denial doesn't change that.
#8 Yunru Aug 15, 2014 14:06:58	A question was also asked and an answer given over bracers of defense. And the answer given was wrong.
#9 jaelis Aug 15, 2014 14:23:51	I don't think it is a good idea to treat Mearl's tweets as canon. I like getting them and I'd give his statements a lot of weight, but he plainly states that he is not researching them and I doubt that he is talking to any of the designers about them. So he will make outright mistakes, and he'll give his opinion on things that really could go either way.   In this particular case, I think the rules are ambiguous, Mearls tweeted how he would play it, so that's a good reason to play it that way. But it doesn't lift the ambiguity or mean that his answer is the One True Way.   I don't suppose the PHB actually contains rules for sleep, separate from a long rest? That was one issue that came up before.
(Reply to #9) reddaemon	jaelis wrote:
#11 Psikerlord Aug 15, 2014 16:59:57	SomeOtherDude wrote:
(Reply to #8) Shiroiken	Yunru wrote:
#13 E-Tallitnics Aug 15, 2014 19:22:33	Honestly this only comes into play if your entire party is elves, and I've never seen that happen in decades of playing D&D.
(Reply to #9) Overpromises	jaelis wrote:
#15 jaelis Aug 15, 2014 21:24:59	Nuts. I was hoping.
(Reply to #11) shivafang	Psikerlord wrote:
(Reply to #16) Psikerlord	shivafang wrote:
#18 jaelis Aug 16, 2014 10:15:03	I'm not sure standing watch is really a thing. Doesn't it just mean you aren't asleep?
(Reply to #18) Shiroiken	jaelis wrote:
#20 shivafang Aug 16, 2014 11:54:27	Shiroiken wrote:
#21 Chimerasame Aug 16, 2014 15:44:50	E-Tallitnics wrote:
(Reply to #18) Overpromises	jaelis wrote:
#23 jaelis Aug 16, 2014 16:55:13	Yes, I understand the issue. And I agree shivafang's approach would be reasonable. But I'd like to make the point that it is kind of silly to waste a lot of pixels arguing about what trance means, when the long rest rules already have gaping holes. We have no rules about sleeping, and no rules about keeping watch. Never mind rules about trance.   I'm not saying this is the end of the world, but just that the whole sleeping/resting/watching mechanic is totally up to individual DMs.
#24 shivafang Aug 17, 2014 7:46:57	I wouldn't say "No rules" - just not any meaningful rules.     There's a section under constitution checks that says they can be made to "Go without sleep".  What's the DC?  What are the penalties?     There's a rule in long rests saying that you can't stand watch for more than 2 hours, but it doesn't say what 'standing watch' is (That's why I rule it as 'active perception' instead of passive perception if you are awake but not standing watch.)   So there are rules, but the DM has to fill in too many blanks.  Hopefully the DMG will plug these holes, but I'm not optimistic.
#25 UnknownMourner Aug 17, 2014 10:53:50	When the party has a night encounter, I randomize two non-elves to be awake, plus all elves are awake, and all the rest are asleep.   You should decide what this benefit does based on how you run your games.   If you run straight old school random rolls for night ecounters while travelling and camping, then playing it as a watch benefit only is enough.   If you don't get into all that, then decide what kind of resting benefit you want it to be.   This will also depend on how much control you give the players over when they take a long rest.   Every edition of DnD, including this one, has had the same problem spot: how much your players walk over your monsters depends on how much say you give them in when they recover "per day" abilities. The scenario should always have strong motivators to move along.   As others have pointed out, the ability does not matter much since the rest of the party needs 8. It's kind of like having a higher overland speed, when the rest of the party doesn't. So what? Are you going ahead of the party in "dinosaur jungle"?
#26 shivafang Aug 17, 2014 11:08:27	UnknownMourner wrote:
#27 MrHotter Aug 17, 2014 17:37:36	A long rest is 8 hours and sleeping is one of the things you can do during your long rest.  That's the important rule.    Elves only need 4 hours of 'sleep'.   8 hours of sleep is not the same thing as a long rest.  If no one sleeps the entire 8 hours of the long rest then everyone still gets the full benfits of a long rest. Elves would not get a long rest from not trancing for 4 hours.    I do like the wording a bit more on the long rest from 4E that made it easier to figure out how long before you can benefit from another long rest. It said that you had to wait 12 hours before being able to benefit from another long rest.    When 5E says you can take one 8 hours long rest every 24 hours it sounds like they are talking about getting a full nights sleep every day.